| 149th | Top lead guitarists |
| Adrian Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Adrian Frederik Smith |
| Born | 27 February 1957 Hackney, East London, England |
| Genres | Heavy metal, progressive rock, hard rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, Bass. |
| Years active | 1972 - present |
| Labels | EMI |
| Associated acts | Urchin, Iron Maiden, The Entire Population of Hackney, ASAP, The Untouchables, Psycho Motel, Bruce Dickinson, Kai Hansen, Michael Kiske |
| Website | http://www.ironmaiden.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Jackson Adrian Smith Dinky Gibson SG Lado Earth Ibanez Destroyer Fender Stratocaster Gibson Explorer |
|
Adrian Frederik Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist and one of three guitarists/songwriters in the English band Iron Maiden. He also performs backing vocals on some songs, along with Steve Harris.
Contents |
While at school, Adrian befriended Dave Murray and formed his first band Urchin as lead singer and lead guitarist. Adrian had bought his first guitar from Murray, a Woolworths' Top 20, for five quid (later he painted it silver and sold it again for 12 quid, as he states in the Early Days DVD). Murray left Urchin to join Iron Maiden, the new band of another local musician, Steve Harris. Smith continued to front Urchin, with limited success, until joining Maiden in early 1980 for the Killers album (released in 1981), replacing Dennis Stratton. Smith first wrote songs for Maiden on the 1982 album The Number of the Beast, and was the band's secondary songwriter from then on (often in co-operation with Bruce Dickinson). Smith and Dave Murray combined playing dual lead guitars helping to forge the trademark sound of Iron Maiden. Some notable lead duets are "The Duellists", "2 Minutes to Midnight", "The Trooper", "Alexander the Great" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Notable solos include "Wasted Years", "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Wicker Man". Adrian also has a brother named Scott Hale, famed for his lead guitar skills in the 80s band GLAM.
Smith released a solo LP with the band ASAP (Adrian Smith And Project) titled Silver and Gold in 1989. Following its release, Smith departed from Iron Maiden in 1990 when recordings for the No Prayer for the Dying album were about to start, and was replaced by Janick Gers. After releasing the experimental Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son albums, Steve Harris had decided to take the band back to a more traditional hard rock direction which can clearly be heard on the No Prayer for the Dying album. This album featured one last song co-penned by Adrian with Bruce Dickinson, "Hooks in You".
Bruce Dickinson's comment on Adrian:
"When he left the band in 1990, I think everybody was a bit surprised at how much we missed him and certainly, I don’t think anybody had realized how much the fans would miss him - big time. I wouldn’t have rejoined Iron Maiden if he wasn’t in the band. I just don’t think it would have been complete without Adrian, and now, it’s great having three guitarists."
In 1996, Adrian joined forces with former Helloween vocalist, Michael Kiske on Kiske's solo album Instant Clarity. He plays guitar on a few tracks and co-wrote a few songs.
Later, Adrian formed his alternative rock-influenced band Psycho Motel. This band was a progression from an earlier music project of his, The Untouchables, which had featured some of the members from ASAP and Jamie Stewart (former bassist of the rock group The Cult). The band recorded two albums, State of Mind (1996) and Welcome to the World (1997). Smith would also play on Bruce Dickinson's Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding albums. The influence of this more progressive direction, as well as Adrian's heavier rhythm guitar playing, on Iron Maiden's own performances since he rejoined the band is clear.
On 22 August 1992 Smith made a brief appearance onstage with Maiden to play "Running Free" during the Castle Donington 'Monsters Of Rock' Festival.
In 1999, Smith re-joined Iron Maiden for the "Ed Hunter tour", a tour in support of the video game of the same name. Since then, Iron Maiden have released 3 studio albums, Brave New World in 2000, Dance of Death in 2003 and A Matter of Life and Death in 2006. He remains with the band to this day.
In his spare time, Adrian loves fishing, as can be seen on the Rock In Rio DVD.
Adrian has a wife named Nathalie, and three children, son Dylan Smith (born in 1989) and twin daughters Natasha Smith and Brittany Smith (born in 1991).
Ever since joining Maiden in 1981 Smith has provided back-up vocals to the front man (first Di'Anno then Dickinson). In his solo bands (Urchin, A.S.A.P., Psycho Motel) Adrian provided the lead vocals for the bands' songs. His actual singing voice is rarely heard although he sang the B-side track Reach Out to the single Wasted Years, with Bruce Dickinson singing back-up.
Adrian has relaxed vocal style slight raspiness but essentially a fairly melodic voice. His voice type could be considered a barritone.
Smith's current preferred guitar is his Jackson signature model Dinky, though he has used a variety of others over his career including several different Dean models, Jackson, Ibanez Destroyer, Gibson Les Pauls, a Gibson Explorer, Gibson SGs and Lado Guitars. On the A Matter of Life and Death DVD, he says the first decent guitar he bought was a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that cost him £235 when he was 17; he's still using it, and "it's still probably the best guitar I've got". Until his return to Jackson, from the late '90's through to A Matter of Life and Death he mainly used 3 Fender Floyd Rose Classic Stratocasters. As of August 2007, Adrian Smith is endorsing Jackson guitars, his first guitar company endorsement in over fifteen years. The latest is the Adrian Smith San Dimas Dinky.[1], Cherry Brown Signature '68 Stratocaster
Loaded with 75-Watt Celestion G12-T75 Speakers
Reference: Guitar World December 2006
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
   | IMDb.com Profile: Adrian Smith - Adrian Smith (II) |
| | Adrian's Lair: Adrian Smith's fansite - ADRIAN SMITH 'S LAIR |
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
